Learning is an ongoing process in life that requires continuous memorization and retention of new concepts, ideas, terms, names, etc. Although a variety of methods have been developed for building memory, it is a constant search for finding an effective and faster way for enhancing people's memorization process for their daily uses.
Learning by reading and/or by classroom instruction has been the conventional learning method for centuries. A provided learning material may contain sufficient explanatory contents to help a learner to understand and memorize the subject matter. However, purely reading the learning material and/or receiving classroom instruction related to the material is not the best way to quickly memorize the new concepts contained because a huge portion of the learning material is used not for helping the learner to memorize the concepts, but for helping the learner to understand the concepts. Therefore, the learner may be distracted in her learning process to grasp the gist of the learning material. It is thus not uncommon that although, in a learning process, the concept may have to be explained in detail paragraph after paragraph, the gist of the concept may only hinge on a few keywords. Consequently, to learn or to memorize the new concept depends on how well a learner can memorize the keywords. Therefore, a learning platform designed to help the learner to quickly grasp and master the new concepts extracted from the learning material will significantly speed up the learning process.
Further, in the context of training, after the learners are expected to have memorized concepts conveyed in the learning material, it is very difficult to benchmark how much of the learning material the learners have actually mastered. For example, a multiple-choice test may be designed and given to the learners to check how well the learners have learned. However, it is well known that it is a common practice for the learner to guess the answer when she encounters a subject that she knows very little about during a multiple-choice exam. She might lack the knowledge to answer the question, but she may be lucky to get the answer right. Further, she may also get some of the answers right just because the answer is clearly shown in the provided choices and she is hinted. As such, the value of the multiple-choice exam is only good to a certain extent. When it is required that the learners must know all the material being taught, or a testing authority must be assured that certain concepts in the learning material must be mastered by the learner, the multiple choice test is obviously not the best choice.
What is needed, therefore, is a method and system for learning and retaining unfamiliar materials for short- and long-term immediate recall.